It went down as I went down the other side and stayed at the normal mark all the way to my destination some 50 freeway miles away. On the way back it ran fine. We stopped for lunch before the hill on the return only to find that my oil separator had filled and oil had been coming out the hose on the rear crossmember. So I drained it and put the oil back in the engine. I had only 120 miles since the last draining.
When we went over the hill the temp once again climbed up into the red just as we got to the top. Not a good thing to see.
What to do?
One of the first things I was able to get done was to drill a hole in my oil sump and have a bung welded in and installed a return line from the separator. You can read about that on another page "Oil catch tank"
The next week had to make the same trip and on the way home once again the needle started to climb at the bottom of the hill so I pulled off and took a slower route home. Although still steep and the needle climbing I could pull over in places and let it cool or get out of the way if it broke down.
Once home I started checking the cooling system, not wanting to miss the obvious I checked was my fan on right, the belt tight. I went to see a mechanic friend Henry who couldn't give me any real answer but offered some suggestions and loaned me a thermal infrared gun. With this I could check the hoses and head and radiator for hot and cold spots.
I did find that at my temp sender on the rear of the head it was running at 244F when the needle was touching the red and was 175 at normal. I have an 82C thermostat(@180F).
So what I think is happening is as I drive along the engine warms up to around 175 as it goes up the hill the thermostat opens(180) and the water doesn't get cooled by the radiator.
I had had the radiator cleaned and put on a 4# cap when I put the motor in in 2011. I put in a 9# cap for the second trip and eventualy a 13# cap. Well, the 13# popped 4 holes in the heater core.
I disconnected the core and checked to see if this made any difference. It seems that the heater core was the main thing where cooling was taking place. On one of the runs I had 140F on the heater duct without the fan on!
The radiator continues to be an enigma to me. My top hose shows 150F and the bottom 140, from what I understand that should be a greater Delta T. The engine side of the rad reads around 160-172 while the front is more closer to ambient air. It is the 1960 series 5 core radiator, which is no longer made. My local radiator shop can rebuild it for,GULP! around $700.
I've ordered a series 3 style for $285 from Rovah Farm. This should give me an indication as to wether or not I am under cooled. Having a known perfect condition radiator(even though a 3 core) should handle the motor. Fingers crossed
I just had the heater core replaced. Greg at Polar Radiator found the same size core but the pipes were different so the top tanks were switched. Total cost $120USD.
The next pic shows the inside of the old core. I can only guess that my radiator looks just as bad.
Here are the numbers for the replacement core.
I replaced the dum dum seal for the intake side of the heater.
Now you can see the position of the inlet and outlet pipes in relation to the motor.
The air intake was screwed on and is sealed tight.
It was hot today, around 100F in the sun but I got the heater back in.
Done but I certainly don't need it this time of year!
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